Skip to main content
Log in

How firms organize for successful innovation in a hostile environment

  • Research
  • Published:
The Journal of Technology Transfer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Managers in a business environment marked by rapid technological change face major challenges when making strategic decisions. A risk-averse, conservative strategy may be a safe route, but might lead to missing marketplace opportunities. This paper investigates whether a hostile business environment adversely affects either a firm's rate of technological innovation or its rate of success with new product launches. It also examines what successful innovating firms do, in terms of strategic posture and organizational structure, to adapt to hostile conditions. A model depicting relationships between environmental conditions, firm responses, innovation rates, and new product success was constructed and tested in an empirical study of 142 U.S. firms involved in technological innovation. The final section discusses managerial implications of the findings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Abell, D.F. “Strategic Windows.”Journal of Marketing 42 (July 1978): 21–26.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Achenbaum, A. “How to Succeed in New Products.”Advertising Age 60 (1989): 62–63.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Achrol, R.S., T. Reve, and L.W. Stern. “The Environment of Marketing Channel Dyads: A Framework for Comparative Analysis.”Journal of Marketing 47 (1983): 55–67.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bentler, P.,EQS Program Manual. Version 3.0. Sepulveda, CA: BMDP Inc., 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bourgeois, L.J. III. “Strategic Goals, Perceived Uncertainty and Economic Performance in Volatile Environments.”Academy of Management Journal 28, no. 3 (1985): 548–573.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bourgeois, L.J. III and K.M. Eisenhardt. “Strategic Decision Processes in High Velocity Environments: Four Cases in the Microcomputer Industry.”Management Science 34 (July 1988): 816–835.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Calantone, R.J. and C.A. di Benedetto.Successful Industrial Product Innovation: An Integrative Literature Review. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Calantone, R.J. and C.A. di Benedetto. “An Integrative Model of the New Product Development Process: An Empirical Validation.”Journal of Product Innovation Management 5 (September 1988): 201–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Cooper, R.G. “How New Product Strategies Impact on Performance.”Journal of Product Innovation Management 1 (March 1984a): 5–18.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cooper, R.G. “New Product Strategies: What Distinguishes the Top Performers?”Journal of Product Innovation Management 1 (June 1984b): 151–164.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Cooper, A. and D. Schendel. “Strategic Responses to Environmental Threats.”Business Horizons 19, no. 2 (1976): 61–69.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Covin, J.G. and D.P. Slevin. “Strategic Management of Small Firms in Hostile and Benign Environments.”Strategic Management Journal 10 (1989): 75–87.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Day, G.S.Strategic Market Planning: The Pursuit of Competitive Advantage. St. Paul, MN: West, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Duncan, O.D.Introduction to Structural Equation Models. New York, NY: Academic Press, 1975.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Gupta, A.K. and D. Wilemon. “The Credibility-Cooperation Connection at the R&D-Marketing Interface.”Journal of Product Innovation Management 5 (March 1988): 20–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Johns, F.A. “The Organization of High-Technology Product Innovation.”European Journal of Marketing, 18, nos. 6-7 (1984): 55–71.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Khandwalla, P.N.The Design of Organizations. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Khandwalla, P.N. “Some Top Management Styles, Their Context and Performance.”Organization and Administrative Sciences 7, no. 4 (1976–77): 21–51.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Larson, E.W. and D.H. Gobeli. “Organizing for Product Development Projects.”Journal of Product Innovation Management 5 (September 1988): 180–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Lawrence, P.R. and J.W. Lorsch.Organization and Environment. Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Miller, D. “The Correlates of Entrepreneurship in Three Types of Firms.”Management Science 29 (1983): 770–791.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Miller, D. and C. Dröge. “Psychological and Traditional Determinants of Structure.”Administrative Science Quarterly 31 (1986): 539–560.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Miller, D. and P.H. Friesen. “Strategy-Making and Environment: The Third Link.”Strategic Management Journal 4 (1983): 221–225.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Moore, W.L. and M.L. Tushman. “Managing Innovation Over the Life Cycle.” InReadings in the Management of Innovation, edited by W.L. Moore and M.L. Tushman 131–150. Marshfield, MA: Pitman, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Nunnally, J.C.Psychometric Theory. 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Pierce, J. and A. Delbecq. “Organizational Structure, Individual Attitudes and Innovation.”Academy of Management Review 2, no. 1 (1977): 27–37.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Smart, C. and I. Vertinsky. “Strategy and the Environment: A Study of Corporate Responses to Crises.”Strategic Management Journal 5 (1984): 199–213.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Steers, R.M.Organizational Effectiveness: A Behavioral View. Santa Monica, CA: Goodyear, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Sutton, R.M., K.M. Eisenhardt, and J.V. Jucker. “Managing Organizational Decline: Lessons from Atari.”Organizational Dynamics 5 (1986): 17–29.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Utterback, J.M. “The Innovative Process: Evolution Versus Revolution.”In The Innovative Process: Evolution Versus Revolution: Proceedings of a Symposium for Senior Executives. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Utterback, J.M. “Environmental Analysis and Forecasting. InStrategic Management: A New View of Business Policy and Planning, edited by D.E. Schendel and C.W. Hofer, Boston. MA: Little, Brown, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Utterback, J.M. and W.J. Abernathy. “A Dynamic Model of Product and Process Innovation.”Omega 3, no. 6 (1975): 639–656.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Calantone, R., Anthony di Benedetto, C. How firms organize for successful innovation in a hostile environment. J Technol Transfer 19, 17–26 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02373667

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02373667

Keywords

Navigation